Animation of the planetary system around Sun-like star HD 10180 (artist’s impression)

This animation shows an artist’s impression of the remarkable planetary system around the Sun-like star HD 10180. Observations with the HARPS spectrograph, attached to ESO’s 3.6-metre telescope at La Silla, Chile, have revealed the definite presence of five planets and evidence for two more in orbit around this star. This system is similar to the Solar System in terms of number of planets and the presence of a regular pattern in the sizes of the orbits. If confirmed the closest planet detected would be the lightest yet known outside the Solar System, with a mass that could be as small as only 1.4 times that of the Earth.

Here we view the inner part of the HD 10180 planetary system from close to the Neptune-like third world, HD 10180d. The crescent of the second planet (HD 10180c) is seen as well as the tentative tiny rocky world close to the star (HD 10180b). Some of the more distant planets appear as moving points of light against the starry background.